Mississippi State Men's Basketball Takes First Loss To Georgia Tech, 67-59
All good things must come to an end, but the first loss for the Mississippi State men's basketball team ended up being an ugly one.
In the inaugural ACC/SEC Challenge, Mississippi State lost their first game of the season to Georgia Tech, 67-59, in Atlanta on Tuesday night.
The Bulldogs (6-1) had a dreadful shooting night, going 30.8 percent from the field goal range and 23.3 percent from the 3-point range, probably their worst shooting night of the season. Meanwhile, the Yellow Jackets (3-2), shot 34.4 percent from the field and 29.6 percent from beyond the arc.
With Bulldog big man Tolu Smith out, Jimmy Bell Jr., a transfer from West Virginia, had to step up and fill in for the injured Smith. He put up 13 rebounds against the Yellow Jackets, but only recorded six points and went 2 of 4 from the field.
Freshman guard Josh Hubbard looked somewhat solid despite the loss, leading the Bulldogs with 17 points but shooting an ugly 6 of 18 from the field and 3 of 10 from the 3-point range. Other Bulldog players to finish with double digits include Deshawn Davis (12 points) and D.J. Jeffries (10).
In their first true road test of the season, everything that could go wrong with the Bulldogs seemingly did. Georgia Tech, which previously stood at a 2-2 record and lost to Mass-Lowell at home, completely outplayed the Bulldogs, shooting 6 of 14 (43 percent) in the first hall and scoring 16 points off of turnovers. The Bulldogs were only able to score five points off of turnovers during the entire game.
“I asked them after the game, ‘What did you notice out there?'" Mississippi State coach Chris Jans said. "With any average guy that understands basketball and competition, what would they say about us [comparing the first half and second half?’ We play way harder in the second half. That’s my point, why?
“We dug ourselves such a hole, and we played much harder in the second half. We played much more on the defensive end than we were accustomed to and anticipated playing tonight, but I’m not sure we got off to the start that we did. Certainly, no disrespect to their players and their coaches because they did an excellent job. But we didn’t play with the same intensity. We played harder, but first 11 possessions, you get five turnovers. It’s hard to overcome when you’ve got that big of a deficit.”
The loss will most definitely affect the Bulldogs national standings, who sit at No. 21 in the most recent AP Top 25 poll.
Up next, the Bulldogs return to Starkville to host Southern University on Dec. 3 at 3 p.m. CT. The game will be aired on SEC Network.
